1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and system for resume storage and retrieval from multiple resume warehouses. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and system to allow clients/recruiters to collect and organize job applicant information gathered from multiply resume warehouses.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Resumes are a primary communication medium between employers and job applicants. Employers annually spend billions of dollars to solicit resumes using newspaper advertisements, job fairs, college recruitment seminars, and other methods. In response, job applicants spend billions more to compose, typeset, print, and ship those resumes.
Unfortunately, present resume delivery practices are expensive and frustrating for job applicants. Employers and applicants suffer from the inefficiencies of resume collection and handling. The solicitation, receipt, storage, management, search, and retrieval of dozens, hundreds, and in some cases thousands of resumes can be a difficult, unwieldy, and expensive burden on the employer. Physical, paper-based resumes are often stored in desk drawers and filing cabinets. The numerous limitations of present resume practices include consumption of substantial physical space; difficulty in searching through large quantities of paper documents; the near-impossibility of correlating applicants whose resumes may vary widely in organization, content, and clarity; and the lack of uniformity in the search process from one practitioner to another.
The growing popularity oft he Internet has created a niche in the resume distribution business for Internet resume warehouses (for example, Monster.com, Hotjobs.com, Dice) to improve the method of resume solicitation, sorting, delivery, handling, and management. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,324 issued to Hartman et al. (incorporated by reference), a resume warehouse is described that allows a job applicant to fill out a resume outline form 30 (FIG. 3). The form 30 has a plurality of fields 31 relevant to employment, using typical information found on a resume is summarized by the applicant. Another resume warehouse is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,978,768 to McGovern et al. (incorporated by reference), which enables an employer to use a computer network, such as the Internet, to advertise available positions and receive resumes electronically from prospective applicants, and enables prospective applicants to use the Internet to find those available positions.
Therefore, a continuing need exists for a system which will maximize the scope of a company's advertising efforts while also providing a reasonably secure and efficient manner of forwarding resumes to the company and enabling the company to efficiently screen and categorize the resumes received. Additionally, a continuing need exists to assist a job seeker in locating available positions quickly and effectively.